Kim Ki Nam, former secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, died at the age of 94 at 10:00 of May 7, Juche 113 (2024) while being treated in sickbed for decrepitude and multiple organ dysfunction since April 2022.

An obituary of his death was announced on May 7 in the joint name of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and the Cabinet of the DPRK.

The obituary said that Kim Ki Nam was a veteran of the WPK and the revolution and a prominent political activist who devoted his all to the sacred struggle for defending and strengthening the ideological purity of our revolution and firmly guaranteeing the steady victory of the socialist cause politically.

Born into a stevedore’s family in the late 1920s, he spent his childhood in hardships. After Korea’s liberation he was trained into a reserve backbone of a new Korea under the deep trust of President Kim Il Sung and was engrossed in study abroad from the period of democratic construction to the days of the war.

When the fierce war was in full swing to defend the country from the invasion by the imperialist allied forces, he was engaged in educational work at Kim Il Sung University. He devoted himself to training competent talents who would contribute to the sacred cause of building a powerful socialist country on the debris of war as desired by the President.

He worked at the Central Committee of the WPK from May 1956 thanks to the great political trust of the President. For over 60 years he devoted his all to consolidating the ideological and theoretical foundation of the Party and victoriously advancing the Juche revolution.

In the 1960s when the work of establishing the monolithic ideological system in the whole Party and defending the Party Central Committee politically and ideologically from the moves of all counter-revolutionary trends that emerged in the international communist movement became an urgent requirement, he made a great contribution to the Party’s cause with high degree of political insight, theoretical level and mature writing.

In the 1970s, he made positive contributions to the Party’s ideological building and strengthening of its leadership ability while working as a leading official in charge of editing and publishing the political and theoretical magazine Kulloja and the newspaper Rodong Sinmun, organs of the WPK Central Committee.

He displayed his transparent outlook on the leader, party principle and high political and theoretical qualifications while consecutively holding an important post of the information and publicity field of the Party in the period of succession to the leadership of the WPK. He also performed distinguished feats in demonstrating in every way the prestige and militant might of the WPK, remaining loyal to the ideas and leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Il in the van.

He played a distinguished role in thoroughly establishing the monolithic leadership system of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un and steadily enhancing the political and ideological might of Korean-style socialism at a crucial period of historic turn in carrying forward the revolutionary cause of Juche.

He devoted himself to backing the victorious journey of building a powerful socialist country by maintaining the powerful offensive and fresh development in the new era in all spheres of the Party’s ideological work always with sincere attitude and high sense of responsibility before the revolution and people.

Kim Ki Nam was awarded Order of Kim Il Sung and Order of Kim Jong Il, the highest order of the DPRK, watches bearing the august names of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and high-ranking party and state commendations, including the title of Labor Hero, for his feats for the Party, the revolution, the country and the people.

Though he passed away, his feats for the Party, the revolution, the country and the people will always go down in the whole historic course of accomplishing the great cause of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, the obituary said.

That day the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and the Cabinet of the DPRK announced that the deceased Kim Ki Nam will be accorded a state funeral and formed the state funeral committee with the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un as its chairman and Kim Tok Hun and other 99 persons as its members.

The state funeral committee said that the bier of Kim Ki Nam is placed at the Sojang Club of Pothonggang District in Pyongyang and that the mourners to the deceased will be received from 09:00 to 20:00 of May 8 and the coffin of the deceased will be carried out at 09:00 of May 9.

Rodong Sinmun